Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1887-07-15

A THEMATiCAL PRODIGY

Prof Reuben Fields and Ills Wonder
fui Legerdematn with Figures.
A letter from iiigglnsville, Mo, says
Probably one of the most wonderful
men of this day is living few miles
south of this city. He is known every
where as Prof Reuben Fields, aud is
probably the only man in the country
who travels free on railroads and never
has pass, and don't bother about the
long and short haul clause, Prof. Fields
is undoubtedly a mathematical wonder.
He has no education whatever, does
not know n single letter of the alpha
bet, nor his own name If printed III
sixteen-line plea wood type, bold face.
Nor does he know one figure from
another. though he will solve any prob
lem in mathematics given him He
never carries a watch, but when asked
what time of day he promptly answer
ed fourteen minutes and thirty-four
seconds after s. Though four watches
varied slightly rs to the seconds, the
minutes were all right. When asked
on what day of the week the I'D day
| Of November, 1861. came, he answered:
Saturday. He answered this and
| number of similar questions without
moments hesitation. To the question;
"What will 80 pounds of sugar at ~
cents pound amount top he prompt
ly answered SIS or, and before those
| who were figuring with him could get
the question on paper. So the qucs-
tion: What will l9I yards of calico at
lJ a.,,t, ~ on,ntI,,t fa ptf yyng mink ly an
swered, 81 31s These were very easy
ones for the professor. and no asked
for something hard. The following was
| given him.
If Irun u yards in minute, how
long will il take to run milcsp
With very little study came the an
| swer: 39l 10 minutes or hours 81 y
minutes.
These problems seemed not to puz-
| zle him, as the answer came as soon
rs the questions were asked On the
following. however, he required lit
study, owing. rs lie said, to the noise
about him. The question was:
From here to Louisiana, Mo, il is
| 15g miles; how many revolutions does
the driving wheel of IN engine, ID feet
in circumference make in u run from
| this place to Louisiana
The professor studied little, mutt
tering strings of figures, millions,
bilious, trillions, quadrillions, 352 to
| the mile-55, 96S revolutions, came
the answer before the calenlators found
how many revolutions it made to the
mile. The figures ''734' were written
on paper and shown him. He did not
know what they were. and in fact he
is ignorant on any other subject than
mathematics, and then the question
must be asked verbally. He is sc years
of age and was born in Kentucky, He
claims that his gift was given from
heaven aud says it come to him sud
denly when $ years old lie says the
Lord made but one Samson. one Solo
mon and one Reuben Fields. To tho
one he gave strength, TO the other wis
dom, and to himself mathematical in
stinct. He guards this instinct with the
UTMOST care AMI will not answer ques-
tions unless he is paid, fearing that II
will be taken from him should he use 1T
TO satisfy idle curiosity. lie also was
given the following;
A has a certain sum of money; he
goes to a theater and pays 81 admis-
sion, spends half of what he has left
and then pays ~ to get out; he goes
to second theatcr and pays 81 adj
mission. spends half he has left and
paws 81 to get out he goes to third
theater, pays 81 admission, spends
half of what he has left and then pays
his last dollar TO get out; how much
had he when he startedP
While one or two of those present
commenced to scratch up half forgot.
ten algebra, the professor was soaring
among the millions. billions, trillons,
ouadrillions," and then suddenly
dropped down to S2i before the alge-
braical calculator get their paper rea-
DIV to commence.